The Doctor Who Has No Ambition (Soulless Book 9) - Victoria Quinn Page 0,4

had different results.”

“You don’t know that—”

“Yes, I fucking do know that.” I stepped closer to her, not wanting to raise my voice, but it was inevitable. The door was wide open and our voices trailed into the hallway, but I didn’t give a damn right now. “Because I’m the best heart surgeon in the fucking world. That was why I agreed to do this surgery, because I knew your father would never get better care anywhere else. I put myself in this difficult situation because it was the right call for your father. You have no idea how much of a burden I carried for you—because I want to give you everything you deserve.”

She dropped her gaze again.

“I’m so sorry that you lost him. I loved him like a father, Catherine, so the loss has been devastating for me too. But we need to get through this together, not apart. For you to resent me for what happened is ludicrous.”

She kept her gaze on the floor, her breathing deep and hard. She didn’t say anything, and it didn’t seem like she was going to.

I noticed her wedding ring was gone and felt a painful burn in my chest. “We’ll get through this, alright? We’ll go to therapy and work through it. It’ll take some time for things to feel normal again, but we’ll get there.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. That was her cue to speak. She always did it, even in court. She opened her eyes again and looked at me. “I know it’s not your fault. I know you loved my father. I know you did everything you could. But…I just don’t think I’ll ever feel the same way again.”

My body went into shock, going still and cold, and I stared at her blankly as she stabbed me a thousand times in a microsecond.

“It’s always going to be there, and I look at you differently now.”

Was this really happening? I closed my eyes and opened them again, wanting this to be a nightmare. But it wasn’t. “That’s what therapy is for, Catherine. We can work through this—as husband and wife.”

She dropped her gaze, silently refuting the suggestion.

“We just started trying to have a family. How can we go from that to this in only a few months?”

She kept her eyes down.

“I know you’re devastated right now. I get it. I’m trying to be understanding. But let me refresh your memory of our situation. We’re married. We’re committed to each other through bad and good, sickness and in health, forever. We put in the work to fight for this relationship and spend our lives together. We’re going to be buried next to each other in the cemetery down the road. That’s what we promised each other.”

“And you promised me he would live…”

I inhaled a sharp breath between my clenched teeth. “You made me, Catherine. You forced me to, and I love you so fucking much that I wanted to give you whatever the fuck you wanted. How dare you hold that against me.”

She turned away and grabbed her bags.

I lost my temper and snatched them out of her hand and threw them on the ground. “What the fuck, Catherine? Is your love for me so weak to let this break us? It’s bullshit.”

“It’s not that I don’t love you. But it’s different now. When couples lose a child—”

“We have not lost a child, Catherine. This is a completely different situation. Every marriage has its problems, and we’ll get through this like everyone else. I’m willing to do whatever you need, put in all the work to keep us together. Because you’re my wife—and I love you so fucking much.”

She started to cry again. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry. Just work on this with me.”

She looked down at the bags where I’d dropped them then picked them up again.

“I can’t believe this.”

She hooked the straps over her shoulder then moved to the door, not looking back at me, just walking out.

“Wow…” I turned to watch her leave, unable to control my anger and my pain at her betrayal. I dedicated my life to helping people, and she knew that better than anybody. It was one of the reasons she’d fallen for me in the first place. And now she’d decided to turn her back on me, when I cared about my patients more than any doctor ever did. “I can’t believe that your resentment is stronger than what we have. Take some time to pull